Since Thursday, January 21, 2010, the internet, newspapers and people around kitchen tables across the country have been ablaze with outrage over the Supreme Court‘s action to open the floodgates to corporate money in our elections.…..
See our recent post: “Something terrible happened to American democracy at the Supreme Court yesterday …”
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Over 40,000 of you have joined with us in launching a long-term campaign to amend the Constitution, and others have begun to follow your lead.
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We think you’ll agree that it’s time to raise a ruckus! Over the weekend we prepared some ideas for things you can do and materials to get you started. Please check out our new Take Action section right now at:
Here’s some of what you’ll find there:
1) Spread the word! Tell your friends about the Motion to Amend. Use our form to forward a message to your contacts. Join our new Facebook page to connect with others.2) Donate to the cause! Move to Amend is the beginning of a multi-year movement to amend the Constitution. We’re gearing up big and we need your financial support.3) Educate Others! Write a letter to the editor to explain what Citizens United ruling does and let others know how they can take action. Make sure to mention the MovetoAmend.org website. Our website has useful tips and sample letters to help get you started.
In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
We agree, which is why we’ve also included ideas for group action like:
1) Hold a Funeral for Democracy! Organize a mock funeral outside your closest federal building, with mourners, music, speakers, and eulogies for democracy. Let everyone know that the U.S. judiciary has made democracy illegal by granting away our rights to corporations. Take video to post on YouTube, invite the media, and make sure your political officials are invited to speak in memory of democracy.2) Organize a Study Group or Kitchen Table Discussion! Most folks do not have a deep understanding of what corporate personhood means to democracy and elections. Bring your friends, family, co-workers, fellow students, or neighbors together for a discussion about why this happened, what it means and what needs to be done. We provide materials to help get you started and readings to discuss.3) Pass a Democracy Resolution! We include a model resolution to start from. Your political party, rotary club, city, township or even state can pass this declaration calling for a Constitutional Amendment to Legalize Democracy and Abolish Corporate Personhood. We also provide some materials to get you started if you’d like to take action at the municipal level.
ALL THAT AND MORE IS HERE:
Large corporations have used our legal system for decades to make enOrmous profits at the expense of our health, our communities, the environment and our democracy. Let’s seize the moment and make the Citizens United v. FEC decision the last straw that breaks corporate rule once and for all!
Do you have other ideas for action? Let us know! If you make templates or example documents, costumes, flyers, props or other materials, we’ll post them. See you in the streets!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Signed by 45,761 and counting by 9:40 am PST.
The quiet coup is complete. The corporate oligarchy is now unfettered – politics truly makes strange bedfellows – perhaps we should join the Republicans and just wreck the bastard. Is the Post American period is upon us?
As of 11:30 am PST on Jan 28th it has been signed by 50,442 and counting . . .
Don’t forget to sign the Motion to Amend, and scale back what the Supreme Court just did. As of today – Feb 4, – 56,000 have signed it.
Amend the constitution so that corporations cannot spend limitless monies to fund smear campaigns AND get rid of lobbyists on both sides of the aisle. Give the people the right to make a difference with their vote. Expose congress members who accept monies from corporations and any wealthy individuals. Keep it out there so everyone KNOWS who’s being bought and paid for!~!!!!!!!
The Supreme Court decision just makes it worse. Do you own a newspaper? How about a television station? How about a network? I don’t. I didn’t think my opinions, my attitudes, my vote had much weight before, but now I’m thinking they’ve become nothing but air. Money has always had an advantage in politics, but this decision pretty well puts individual citizens out of the picture completely. Of course, we could all just relax and finally realize that the big corporations really do have our best interests at heart.